Eager to shoot down President Obama’s legislative agenda just weeks before the election, Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a measure that would have provided $1 billion over five years to help veterans find work in their communities.

The measure, which would have potentially created jobs for up to 20,000 veterans, was blocked on a procedural point by Republicans, who argued that the bill was unpaid for. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat and the bill’s main sponsor, said the bill would have covered the costs in part with fees on Medicare providers and suppliers who are delinquent on their tax bills.

Republicans in Congress continue to act as if the Bush error never happened. They would like us all to forget that while they were in charge, they repeatedly sent George W. Bush legislation that increased our nation’s debt. There were the Bush tax cuts, which primarily benefited the wealthy. There were the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. And there was the Medicare Part D overhaul. Republicans had no problem voting for those things during the early 2000s. But now that a Democrat is in the White House, and they’re in the minority in the Senate, they have become uncompromising obstructionists. And no wonder: their number one priority is the defeat of our current president, not the betterment of the nation. As Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell freely admitted a couple of years ago, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Accordingly, Republicans are unwilling to cooperate with Democrats in passing a jobs measure for our veterans, who have served our country with distinction and deserve to have jobs to come home to. Their shameless obstructionism is a slap in the face to all of the military families who have sacrificed so much.

“It’s both shocking and shameful that Republicans today chose to kill a bill to put America’s veterans back to work. At a time when one in four young veterans are unemployed, Republicans should have been able, for just this once, to put aside the politics of obstruction and to help these men and women provide for their families,” Senator Patty Murray said in a statement expressing her disappointment regarding the outcome.

“But this vote is stark reminder that Senator McConnell and Senate Republicans are willing to do absolutely anything to fulfill the pledge he made nearly two years ago to defeat President Obama. It doesn’t matter who gets in their way or which Americans they have to sacrifice in that pursuit, even if it’s our nation’s veterans.”

We’d quibble with one aspect of Murray’s statement: In light of how Republicans have behaved over the last few years, it is not shocking that they would filibuster a jobs bill for veterans. When Republicans say they are for creating jobs, what they really mean is that they are theoretically for increasing employment. In reality, they couldn’t care less about America’s middle and low income families. Their objective is to sound good so they can win elections and seize power. They are not interested in governing justly or responsibly.

The Republicans who broke with their party were Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Scott Brown of Massachusetts. No Democrat sided with the Republicans to block the bill.

This entry was written by Andrew and posted on September 19th, 2012 at 8:56 PM. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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I am a Vietnam-era veteran that served in Korea from 70-71 in Osan, Korea as a medic. In 1968 – 1969, I was in graduate school and I was teaching juvenile delinquents in Richmond, VA, but since the U.S. was drafting 35,000 men a month, I went ahead and enlisted in the Air Force.

I am very, very, very upset with the failure of the Senate not passing the veterans jobs bill yesterday!

When I came home from Korea in 1971, people did not like the veterans because they were upset about Vietnam… I forgot about their terrible comments and moved on with my life…

Now they are backstabbing the vets! This is terrible!

Please send me a copy of the bill and the senators that voted – yes and no.

Thank you for your efforts. I appreciate your desire to help the veterans. We need to pass another bill and enlarge the old GI Bill also.

Plus we need to have enacted the bill that President Obama signed into law in May 5, 2010 – S. 1963 Caregiver and Veteran Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. Specifically Section: 510 – 3 year Pilot Program for Dental Care for Non-disable Veterans – I’m 66 years old and a lot of my veteran friends need dental care – What is and has happened with getting this bill – Section 510 enacted?

I’m a registered Republican who’s incredibly embarrassed. After Georgie-boy had his way with a Clinton-surplus, we are now dealing with idiots who forget where our deficit came from! I believe in the core fundamentals of the old-school Republican Party, but over the past few decades I’ve watched the Republican message get lost completely. It’s now a game of who wins and who loses. That’s complete and utter BS and doesn’t serve the American people. Leave it to politicians to pervert the fundamentals of democracy! This Veteran’s Bill block by the Republicans…not to mention Mitten’s unconnected idiocy, has forced me to once again vote with the Democrats this election! I’d suggest that all Congressional Republicans pull their history books from their dusty confines and read about WHY the Republican Party was started and what it meant for the Nation. Go back to those values and you might find your way again.

[…] Republicans shamelessly block Patty Murray's veterans jobs bill in US SenateNorthwest Progressive Institute Official Blog (blog)Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat and the bill's main sponsor, said the bill would have covered the costs in part with fees on Medicare providers and suppliers who are delinquent on their tax bills. Republicans in Congress continue to act as … […]

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The Cascadia Advocate is authored by the staff, board, and contributors of the Northwest Progressive Institute, a netroots powered strategy center working to raise America's quality of life through innovative research and imaginative advocacy.